Inspiration For All Walks Of Life

Yes, Kindness & Equality Can Exist Together

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

–Martin Luther King Jr.

I try not to get too political on this blog, but I am going to exercise my freedom of speech and go on a small little rant here. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so a post about equality and tolerance seems appropriate. Hope you don’t mind.

Trump’s inauguration is coming up this week, and while I am thrilled I have noticed a LOT of people that are not. They are scared, they are sad and they are grieving. Unfortunately, those people have forgotten that 8 and even 4 years ago, there were those of us who felt the same way about Obama coming into office. It had nothing to do with color, but how we saw the country changing because of the way he wanted to do things.

Sadly, I have seen that very change take place, and not in a good way. We have forgotten what it means to be Americans, and have instead divided ourselves by party. We forgot how to be kind to one another, and instead bully those who don’t agree with us, under the umbrella of “well that person should be more tolerant of my choices.” I have seen it on Facebook, I’ve seen it on Twitter, and I’ve seen it in other social media. I’ve lost friends, people have lost their voice, and I think we have all lost a little bit of respect for one another because of our individual opinions.

Personally, if I don’t agree with you I’ll tell you. But I’ll also respect your freedom to HAVE an opinion. Individuality doesn’t mean we all have to agree. Equality doesn’t mean we all have to agree. When someone doesn’t agree with you, have the respect to allow them that belief. On the other hand, be assertive enough not to let someone bully you into keeping your mouth shut about your beliefs. Say what you think, with Kindness, but don’t be afraid to say it.

We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.

–Martin Luther King Jr.

Our country is divided because we have lost this ability to respect our individualism. Be tolerant of others’ beliefs, but don’t be afraid to state your own. I voted for Trump for a lot of reasons. That doesn’t make me a bigot, or uneducated, or prejudiced. It simply means that I had an opinion and chose to exercise my freedom to have that opinion.

So for those of you out there who are scared to voice your opinion on ANYTHING, I’m going to tell you right now that as long as you speak your words with kindness, you should NEVER be afraid to voice your opinion. I will never condone bullying to get your opinion out there, because the Bible says to speak kind words, but we are humans, we are individuals, and we are all entitled to our own beliefs.

So be tolerant, be kind, but above all be yourself. Don’t let anyone intimidate you into behaving otherwise.

Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.

–Martin Luther King Jr.

Until next time! Much love to all of you! if you liked this post (or even if you didn’t) please share!

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2 thoughts on “Yes, Kindness & Equality Can Exist Together”

Beautifully written, thank you for being so open and honest. It’s sad that we live in a country built on the idea of freedom yet, so many people are forced to quell their opinions. Men and women fight and die every day to give us all this right yet, there are people with nothing more than a keyboard trying to take it from us. Thank you for using your voice and words to give us support in using our own.